Optimizing Strengths and Resources in a Memorial Cup Team: a Strengths and Hope Perspective
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 9-20-2019 Optimizing Strengths and Resources in a Memorial Cup Team: A Strengths and Hope Perspective Dan Upham University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Upham, Dan, "Optimizing Strengths and Resources in a Memorial Cup Team: A Strengths and Hope Perspective" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7850. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7850 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. Optimizing Strengths and Resources in a Memorial Cup Team: A Strengths and Hope Perspective By Dan Upham A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of Kinesiology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2019 © 2019 Dan Upham Optimizing Strengths and Resources in a Memorial Cup Team: A Strengths and Hope Perspective by Dan Upham APPROVED BY: ______________________________________________ A. Templer Odette School of Business ______________________________________________ C. Greenham Department of Kinesiology ______________________________________________ V. Paraschak, Advisor Department of Kinesiology September 20, 2019 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. iii ABSTRACT In this case study, I explored the use of strengths and available resources linked to 'hope-in' a shared preferred future (Jacobs, 2005) within the Windsor Spitfires hockey club as they worked towards their participation as the host team of the 2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament. I conducted two sets of semi- structured interviews throughout the Spitfires organization (set one was thirteen interviews and set two was twelve interviews). Interviews were conducted post- trade deadline and post-Memorial Cup. Participants were chosen from three categories: players and player support (7); staff (5); and management (2). Extending Snyder's (2002) research on high-hope individuals, I looked at ways the Windsor Spitfires produced a high-hope collective (Jacobs, 2005; Snyder, 2002) wherein they a) defined goals, b) created pathways to their goals, and c) believed in their ability to act along their chosen pathway to their goals. Participants reframed their collective goal to win the Memorial Cup tournament as the host team. The Spitfires used strengths such as hard work, adaptability, preparation, experience, leadership, and effective communication to buy into the team's shared preferred future, respond to adversity effectively and get around constraints, and show proactive behaviour towards reaching their collective goals. The coaching staff, trainers, players, billets, and family members all acted as interpersonal resources to one another, while drawing on external interpersonal resources such as colleagues, personnel with previous Memorial Cup experience, and a high performance psychology coach in order to further their existing strengths and build new strengths to help the team reach its collective goals. iv DEDICATION I dedicate my work to my family and friends who are with me here and in passing, all of whom I consider to be my family: Baba & Mima; Rob Mancini & Mama; Coy; Nicholas Upham; Keegan Dimitrijevic; my son Jake; Surrey; James Denholm; my very beautiful, full of life, already smarter than me, almost seven year old goddaughter Tenleigh Breen Denholm; Robert Denholm; Alexandra Connon; Fred & Louise Connon; Squee; Fievel; Stuuuuuuuu Williams & Karen Barr; Chef Danny Palanca; Randy Swift; Ryan & Tracey Hooey; Bernie & Gina Martorella; Jillian Harris; Charlie; Weezy the Fish; Jesse Meloche; Beth Doxtator; Chef Glenn van Blommestein; Diane Farquhar; Dave Aziz; Nick Dolanski; Jorge Madrid; Justin & Lam Harb; Alex Merryfield; Samr Shamoon; Anthony Maniscalco; Bianca Aversa; Jacob Berthiaume; Frank DeRose; Jesse Auffret; Dave Watson; Natasha Stewart; and Clayton & Clayton Jr. We are all in it together. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my advisor Vicky. She was there for me every step of the way throughout this very difficult process and kept me moving forward along the way. I know it sounds cliché, but there really are no words to describe her. However, I'll try a few anyways: strong, positive, caring, hard working, motivated, passionate, smart, and a beautiful soul. Vicky has shaped me in so many ways, and will be with me for the rest of my life. She is not one in any number. She is just one. Thank you to my committee members, Drs. Craig Greenham and Andrew Templer, for all of their feedback on my work, as well as the great face-to-face and e-mail conversations we have had over the years. I would also like to thank everyone in the Faculty of Human Kinetics that contributed to my hope-enhancing environment throughout my time there: Dr. Jess Dixon; Dr. Todd Loughead; Dr. Kevin Milne; Dr. Sean Horton; Dr. Kenji Kenno; Dr. Paula van Wyk; Dr. Marge Holman; Sharon Horne; Joann Kolonelos; and Amal Jammali. Thank you to Warren Rychel, Joey Garland, and the entire Spitfires organization for working with me over the course of the 2016-2017 season. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Drs. Pamela Milne and Jane Ku for writing great reference letters for me. Without them putting their word on the line for me, I would not be where I am today. I am forever grateful. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY .......................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xi LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................ xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/SYMBOLS ................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 Statement of the Research Question ...............................................................................3 Theoretical and Practical Justification ............................................................................3 Theoretical Justification .............................................................................................3 Practical Justification .................................................................................................4 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................4 Duality of Structure ....................................................................................................4 Strengths Perspective .................................................................................................9 Practices of Hope .....................................................................................................10 Contributions to the Strengths and Hope Framework ..................................................14